Photos: Chinese New Year

Updated 10:08 AM ET, Mon February 25, 2013

Photos: Chinese New Year74 photos

Chinese New Year – Entertainers dance during the traditional Lantern Festival parade, which officially marks the end of Chinese New Year festivities, on Sunday, February 24, in Yuxian, China. Celebrations for the Lunar New Year first began on February 10.

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Chinese New Year – People bring lettuce to a garden to wish for good luck in the Year of the Snake on February 24 in Foshan, China.

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Chinese New Year – Ethnic Chinese Indonesians say prayers at a temple on February 24 in Jakarta.

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Chinese New Year – Entertainers get ready to be taken to a Lantern Festival parade in Nuanquan, China, on February 24.

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Chinese New Year – Two girls don glowing bows as they visit the Qianmen shopping district in Beijing for the Lantern Festival on February 24.

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Chinese New Year – A musician plays the suona, a traditional wind instrument, at a Beijing park during the Lantern Festival on February 24.

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Chinese New Year – A girl holds a firecracker in Beijing during the Lantern Festival on February 24.

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Chinese New Year – A Chinese blacksmith throws molten metal against a cold stone wall to create sparks in the Nuanquan, Hebei province on February 24. For more than 300 years, the village has kept the tradition as a less expensive alternative to buying fireworks during the Lantern Festival.

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Chinese New Year – Chinese blacksmiths wait their turn to throw the molten metal against a wall in Nuanquan, on February 24.

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Chinese New Year – Chinese men release a paper lantern into the sky on the eve of the Lantern Festival on Saturday, February 23.

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Chinese New Year – A Chinese family releases a paper lantern into the sky in Yu Xian on February 23.

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Chinese New Year – People visit a lantern show on February 23 in Beijing.

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Chinese New Year – A young girl looks at lanterns in Yuyuan Gardens in Shanghai on February 24.

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Chinese New Year – Visitors look at lanterns in Yuyuan Gardens on February 24.

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Chinese New Year – A man and a child view the Chinese lanterns on display in Albert Park on Friday, February 22, in Auckland, New Zealand.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Lanterns and a dragon light the sky in Rizhao, China, on February 21.

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Chinese New Year – Villagers in Chinese opera costumes celebrate during Chinese New Year festivities in Xi'an, China, on Friday, February 22.

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Chinese New Year – A youngster releases a floating lantern onto a river on Thursday, February 21, in Rizhao, China.

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Chinese New Year – Dancers take to the streets for the Chinese New Year celebration on February 21 in Ningbo, China.

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Chinese New Year – People join in a dragon dance to celebrate the Chinese New Year on Monday, February 18, in Quanzhou County, China.

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Chinese New Year – Performers entertain the crowds at the Chinese New Year parade in Sydney on Sunday, February 17. The parade featured more than 3,500 performers from Australia and China, including 120 performers from Shenzhen, China, Sydney's official partner city for this year's festival.

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Chinese New Year – A snake goddess leads the Chinese New Year parade in Sydney on February 17.

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Chinese New Year – People light candles at Guangren Temple in Xi'an, China, on February 17.

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Chinese New Year – People light candles at Guangren Temple on February 17.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Firecrackers smoke during a firework display in Shenyang, China, on Saturday, February 16.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – A woman looks for a spot to hang her Buddhist blessing tablet with wishes for the new year written on it to a sacred tree at the Dongyue Temple in Beijing on Friday, February 15.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Chinese traders set off fireworks outside the Silk Market in Beijing to acknowledge the 'god of wealth' and bring their businesses prosperity on Thursday, February 14.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Chinese and Costa Rican chefs cook the world's largest pan of fried rice in celebration of Chinese New Year in San Jose, Costa Rica, on Tuesday, February 12.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Performers take part in a dragon and lion dance at the Philippine Stock Exchange to mark the start of the first day of trading in the Chinese Year of the Snake in Manila, Philippines, on Monday, February 11.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – People sell balloons at a Spring Festival Temple Fair celebrating the new year on February 11 in Beijing.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – A boy eats a mutton skewer at a Spring Festival Temple Fair on February 11 in Beijing.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – A vendor dressed as a clown at a Spring Festival Temple Fair in Beijing shows off his toys for sale on February 11.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Traditional Chinese dancers take part in the New Year parade on Sunday, February 10, in London.

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Chinese New Year – Participants direct a dragon down the streets in the Chinese lunar new year parade in Hong Kong on February 10. Chinese communities worldwide are celebrating the lunar new year and the coming Year of the Snake.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – A costumed woman takes part in the Chinese lunar new year parade in Hong Kong on February 10.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Performers throw confetti into the crowd during a parade in Paris on February 10.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – A traditionally dressed performer celebrates the new year in a parade in Paris on February 10.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – People on stilts and in costume walk down Hong Kong's streets on February 10.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Participants in colorful costumes perform a routine in the streets of Hong Kong on February 10.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – An Indonesian man of Chinese descent prays in the Vihara Dharma Bhakti temple in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 10.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Thai-Chinese residents celebrate the Chinese New Year in Bangkok's Chinatown on February 10.

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Photos: Chinese New Year – Chinese-Filipinos flock to restaurants and Chinese delis for meals to celebrate the start of Chinese lunar new year on February 10 in Manila's Chinatown.

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Chinese New Year – People are seen through the glass as they pray at a temple ahead of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Bangkok on Saturday, February 9.

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Chinese New Year – Fireworks paint the skyline at the Chinese New Year Eve celebration over Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – A woman prays at Thean Hou Temple on the eve of the Chinese New Year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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Chinese New Year – Performers take part in a dragon dance in Manila, Philippines on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – Two Chinese men carry small caskets to be burned at a cemetery in Qingdao, China on Saturday, February 9. Chinese people offer sacrifices to their departed family members one day before the Chinese New Year.

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Chinese New Year – A worker walks past red lanterns hanging from a tree in Ditan Park in Beijing on February 9, a day before the Chinese New Year.

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Chinese New Year – Chinese paramilitary police officers are dressed as Qing Dynasty servants before a re-enactment at Ditan Park, also known as Temple of Earth on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – A Chinese actor wearing a mask walks around Ditan Park on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – Folk artists perform during a ceremony for the Chinese New Year on February 9 in Beijing.

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Chinese New Year – Visitors stroll around Ditan Park on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – Security guards watch as performers take part in a traditional Qing Dynasty ceremony in Beijing on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – A young man burns incense during a prayer at a Chinese temple in Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – A man prepares to perform during a ceremony celebrating the Chinese New Year in Beijing on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – A Chinese paramilitary police officer dressed as a Qing Dynasty servant prepares for a re-enactment of an ancient ceremony on February 9.

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Chinese New Year – A man helps decorate a temple ahead of Chinese New Year festivities Friday, February 8, in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Chinese New Year – Chinese lanterns await visitors outside this doorway in Singapore on February 8.

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Chinese New Year – Traditional Chinese dancers get ready before celebrations in Thailand's Suphan Buri province on February 8.

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Chinese New Year – Actors in traditional imperial costumes take part in a re-enactment February 8 at the Temple of Earth in Beijing.

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Chinese New Year – Workers carry giant candles to a Buddhist temple in Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 8 before the Chinese New Year celebrations begin.

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Chinese New Year – Visitors take in a display celebrating the Year of the Snake in Shanghai, China, on February 8.

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Chinese New Year – Performers dressed as dragons entertain a Chinatown crowd in Manila, Philippines, on February 8.

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Chinese New Year – Snow covers toy snakes displayed at a Shanghai market February 8.

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Chinese New Year – A dragon dance is part of the traditional Chinese New Year celebration in Manila on February 8.

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Chinese New Year – Worshippers burn incense and offer prayers at a Beijing temple February 8.

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Chinese New Year – A dance team trains with dragons in a Paris gymnasium on Wednesday, February 6, ahead of the traditional Chinese New Year festivities.

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Chinese New Year – People decorate Ditan Park in anticipation of the Chinese New Year on February 6 in Beijing.

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Chinese New Year – A father and daughter look at toy snakes at a market in Shanghai on February 6.

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Chinese New Year – A devotee burns incense sticks as she prays at the Jin De Yuan Buddhist temple, locally known as Vihara Dharma Bhakti, ahead of the Chinese New Year in Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 6.

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Chinese New Year – A man exits a shop selling Chinese New Year decorations in Hong Kong on Tuesday, February 5.

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Chinese New Year – Brazilians in costume take part in the Chinese New Year celebrations at Liberdade district in Sao Paulo on Saturday, February 2.

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Chinese New Year – People sleep in their seats on a packed train from Guangzhou to Changchun as they make their way back home for the Chinese New Year on Monday, January 28.

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Chinese New Year – A woman in a panda costume travels with friends on a train to Cangzhou from Beijing for the Chinese New Year on January 28.